


Once upon a time...

by letsjustfckngo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Markyong, Sweet Mark Lee (NCT), THIS IS SOFT OKAY, taeyong is okay, this is the softness that we deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:19:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25915741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsjustfckngo/pseuds/letsjustfckngo
Summary: Another hum escaped from behind Taeyong's lips, this time so close Mark could feel it against his hands, but still he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. Just that it wasn't bad. Unless, of course, it just looked like it wasn't bad but actually was terrible anyway.“Comfy?” Mark asked. After another hum, Taeyong finally nodded.Not that he said anything, though, but Mark decided that was fine. Whatever this was, it would be fine. Especially now that they were here, in such a strange place.———Mark thinks Taeyong needs some time away from the madness, so that is exactly what he provides.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 8
Kudos: 75





	Once upon a time...

It was a little too magical and a little too extreme, but that was exactly what made Mark like it so much. Not that fairytales were strictly his thing, really, but sometimes he did think it would be kind of cool for something like that to exist anyway. Like, imagine the conversations he'd be able to have with beings like fairies or something, assuming they'd be able to speak. Wouldn't that be wild?

“Yo,” He said casually, as he knelt down. He'd stepped onto the veranda, after having found the spot next to him empty. The bed had still been kind of warm, and the arrows on the clock — the house didn't do digital, of course — indicated that he couldn't have been asleep for longer than an hour. “What's up?”

Taeyong was sitting on the edge of the veranda with his legs pulled up to his chest. His chin rested in the space between his knees, and his eyes were closed. “Hm?”

Mark wished it was easier to read these types of expressions sometimes; Taeyong's lips being in a straight line could mean a variety of things. He'd have to wait for his eyes to open, so he could judge the other's mood by the size of his pupils.

“Why are you sitting here?” Mark asked.

“I couldn't sleep.”

Mark pursed his lips, but then he nodded. If he was someone else he might have taken offence to it, especially after all this effort, but he knew very well that years of sleeping problems wouldn't be fixed by a good idea alone. That'd be kind of insane to assume, he thought.

Instead, he sat down behind him and scooted closer, capturing the other between his thighs. His arms snaked around Taeyong's waist, and he rested his chin on top of his shoulder.

Another hum escaped from behind Taeyong's lips, this time so close Mark could feel it against his hands, but still he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. Just that it wasn't bad. Unless, of course, it just looked like it wasn't bad but actually was terrible anyway. Mark couldn't always be sure of that, especially when it came down to seemingly new emotions that even Taeyong wouldn't be able to put a name to.

“Comfy?” Mark asked. After another hum, Taeyong finally nodded.

Not that he said anything, though, but Mark decided that was fine. Whatever this was, it would be fine. Especially now that they were here, in such a strange place.

He stared ahead of him. The fairy lights that clung to all the bushes in the garden were still on, making it possible to take all of it in. There were all sorts of plants here, most of which Mark didn't remember the names of anymore, despite the fact that Taeyong had told him only hours before. Not because he hadn't really listened, of course, but it was just that Taeyong's pupils had been so big then that Mark hadn't been able to focus on much else.

The house itself was made of wood and, like, some type of natural stone or something. There wasn't really any electricity of WiFi, but that was kind of the reason Mark had taken them here. He didn't want Taeyong to check his phone today. Not when the news was still so fresh, and when the comments — nasty as well as defensive — would just keep coming and coming and coming. Distraction wasn't always good, Mark knew, but he did think that it might be better for them to deal with it later, when the majority of people would have mostly forgotten about this new lie from the past already.

He'd been relieved when Taeyong's phone had died, and even more relieved when Taeyong hadn't asked to use Mark's, which had already been assigned the role of 'emergency phone'. It'd given them all the freedom they needed to enjoy this 'authentic fairytale experience' in the way it had been advertised to him on AirBnB that very morning.

“I think it'd be cool to actually believe in fairytales.”

Another hum, and Taeyong nodded again.

“Should we try?”

Taeyong shook his head, drawing a 'huh?' from Mark's lips. Then he scooted forward a little more and tilted his face to look at Taeyong more properly. He was smiling.

“What? Why not?”

“Don't have to try. I believe in them already, I think.” The amusement in Taeyong's voice settled his nerves. "I didn't before, I think — although, maybe, hmm — but now I do. I mean— shhh.” He pointed his finger upwards into the air, putting focus on the noises around them. "Do you hear that?"

Mark followed Taeyong's lead and then closed his eyes, after which he began to grin. "Crickets?"

“Yeah, and?” Taeyong urged on, making him pay more attention. "What else?"

“Birds that are already awake for some reason,” Mark said. His stomach fluttered a little, realising that he never would have been able to hear these noises back in the city.

“Mhm. And?”

Ah. Of course, he thought. He chuckled involuntarily, happiness befalling him. This was good. In this moment, he didn't have a single reason to worry. "Frogs."

“Yeah!”

Something washed over him, causing him to squeeze his arms around Taeyong a little more tightly. His stomach was a mess, and then he felt so happy that he felt sick. His idea might not have been good enough to fix the insomnia, but it was good enough to provide comfort. That was exactly what they'd needed.

“So, now you believe in fairytales?”

“Well, obviously. Do you have any idea how many fairytales there are about frogs? There has to be something about them, right?”

“Yeah, I think so. Now you put it like that. I kinda can't believe I didn't think of that sooner, actually.”

Taeyong let go of his legs, which then fell off the edge of the veranda. By the splashing sound, and the hiss that then erupted from Taeyong's mouth, Mark realised Taeyong's feet were in the small pond now. Despite the fact that it made Mark laugh, he did know that this was Taeyong's way of saying that he'd pulled his barriers down for him and that — therefore — Mark could touch him freely now.

So he pulled him back a little, making him lean against Mark's chest.

“What about, like, fairies and elves and stuff? Are they all real?”

“Mark, of course,” Taeyong continued, already absorbed in the fantasy. “Don't make them hear that. We came to their house, so don't be rude now.”

“Yeah, sorry. You're right.”

“Don't apologise to me. Apologise to them.”

Mark's stomach fluttered with nerves, the words _'Hyung, really?!'_ on the tip of his tongue, but they left as soon as they'd come. This was not the place for shame or hesitation. Here, they could be better than that. “Sorry, elf and fairy folk,” he said. His words were louder now, and for a moment he felt himself hoping they'd travelled far enough for all of them to hear. "I'll leave you all some leftovers to make it up to you."

After the initial satisfaction passed, Taeyong began to laugh. His laughter was light and full, and void of any negativity. It was genuine; probably the most genuine laugh he had heard in a long, long, long time.

Mark smiled from ear to ear as he listened to it, realising how beautiful it was to hear that type of laughter between all these other magical sounds.

Then they were quiet, his eyes falling shut as they listened to the noises around them again. It wasn't like anything Mark had ever heard, and the warm body against his chest also turned into something he had never even felt before. He wished he could feel like this forever; live in it forever.

His eyes shot open then. “Hyung?”

But he knew he didn't have to finish his question, and Taeyong didn't ask him to either. Instead, he was getting up already, his feet making wet imprints on the wooden veranda. “Come,” he said, standing beside Mark with his hand held out.

Mark didn't even hesitate to let himself be helped up, and the fluttering grew wild again. Something was about to happen now, and it was only then that he realised that 'something' had been something he'd been craving since they first arrived here.

Before Taeyong could guide them back inside, Mark couldn't help himself anymore. He pulled the other back against him instead — chest to chest this time — and kissed him so sickeningly softly that he almost couldn't feel it at all. For his body, however, this was all he still felt; everything else was long forgotten.

They stood there for a few seconds, completely still, until their breathing sounded so overpoweringly loud that they knew they'd have to pull back. There were other noises to focus on, and these noises needed to be captured to perfection. Or well, whatever perfection really meant.

So, Mark sat down and allowed Taeyong to retrieve something from his bag. When he came back, he was overpowered with a similar type of giddiness. The anticipation was now so strong that every part of him was tingling.

As Taeyong sat down next to him, with his notebook open and his pen in his hand, he looked at Mark. His pupils were so big that nothing else mattered.

“Once upon a time…” Mark dictated, and after an incredibly surprised laugh that erupted from Taeyong's throat — _this was fucking, no, hecking ridiculous_ — he began to write. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos appreciated as always! :D


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